The cutting edge of feminist poetry
Rupi Kaur, author of Milk and Honey. Courtesy of theodessyonline.com.
Readers worldwide swarm to behold the bee bestrewn cover of Rupi Kaur’s debut book of poems, Milk and Honey. Kaur is a self-published poet and spoken word artist whose poetic recipe has captured the hearts of millions.
Throughout her youth, Kaur was an artist. Ever since she immigrated to Canada from Punjab, India at age three, her mother encouraged her to develop an appreciation for self-expression. Kaur’s childhood involved an abundance of painting, reading, and writing. As she approached adulthood, Kaur employed these outlets to explore femininity, loss, and love. She felt marginalized in school and believed that her race and introverted nature set her apart from her peers, according to wildspicemag.com.
Kaur channeled these feelings into art as she began accompanying her drawings with short poems. What began as a hobby soon became Kaur’s full time job. She felt obligated to share with the world her ability to heal through cultivated language.
“I felt like, for the first time ever, what I had to say was so much more powerful than my fear of what people might think,” Kaur said, according to an interview with huffingtonpost.com. “It seemed more important for me to express solidarity with women going through similar struggles than to continue being that ‘polite, shy, quiet girl.'”
Kaur captured her uncensored insight and experiences in a revolutionary collection of poems. Milk and Honey is sectioned into four parts: the hurting, the lovely, the breaking, and the healing. Each chapter celebrates the challenges of womanhood by examining the way females are treated, how they treat their challengers, and how they treat themselves. According to femmagazine.com, Kaur intended to popularize the practice of self-love.
One of her trending poems is structured as an apology to “all the women [she’s] called pretty,” according to wordsfortheyear.com. Taking a new perspective, Kaur discusses the under-appreciated value of women. She explains how referring to a woman as “pretty” is not the coveted complement people often intend, but rather it is an insult. Concepts like these are explored throughout the text.
Milk and Honey redefines short form poetry. Kaur believes her work is palatable to anyone who has experienced emotional pain or abuse.
“Every issue in the book is one I, myself, or a woman I know has been subject to,” Kaur said, according to femmagazine.com,
Kaur’s message has exploded on social media. She currently has 614 thousand followers on her Instagram account from which fans receive daily excerpts of poems and updates on the status of her reading tours. Kaur’s Twitter account is popular as well, and enthralls over 50 thousand followers.
“For women who are so accustomed to seeing gaps and discrepancies and injustices, poetry and art becomes a way to fill those voids and to create the very things they need and want to read,” Upper School English teacher and published poet Dr. Cristina Baptista said.
As Kaur continues to write, publish, and perform, her empowering message stays the same. Kaur’s dynamic voice is intended to echo through her pages in times of distress or satisfaction, before one drifts to sleep or as they ride the train.
Kaur encourages readers to employ hope in their lives and stated, according to femmagazine.com, “The end is [never] the end. It is just the beginning of something better.”
– Christina Weiler, Arts and Entertainment Editor
Abigail Leyson • Sep 28, 2016 at 5:48 pm
This is very interesting! I need to pick up a copy of “Milk and Honey” now.